


Nights and Days and Coffee

by unreliable_words



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Zutara Week 2016, day 6: coffee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 21:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7818682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unreliable_words/pseuds/unreliable_words
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katara much prefers the night to the day, but she's willing to make an exception for Zuko, as long as he has coffee of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nights and Days and Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so I got distracted and forgot to post this on the right day whoops, but here have a fluffy lil ficlet. This is my first time posting fanfic in ages so, you know, comments are super apricated!!
> 
> Enjoy!

Katara was most decidedly a night person.

Days, she found, were just filled with too much. There were too many people going from here to there. Too many sights, sounds, smells. Too many things to do. Too much hustle and bustle for her liking.

She far preferred the night. She found comfort in the quiet, and the darkness. When there was no sound but the occasional rumble of a car on a distant street and the faint background hum of the air conditioner. Nights were good.

Of course, she ended up married to her exact opposite.

Zuko was a morning person. Always awake at the crack of dawn. He liked the hustle and bustle, the fullness of the day. But by the time the sun sets he’s yawning, and not even the strongest cup of coffee could keep him awake past midnight. Katara teases him for it, and he teases her for not being able to wake up before 10 without coffee.

It’s a good situation. They balance each other out.

He doesn’t wake when she finally slips into bed, hours after him. He only stirs slightly and snuggles close to her, seeking out her warmth. She always has trouble falling asleep on her own, but it's easier with Zuko there beside her. His gentle breathing lulls her to sleep.

 

* * *

When she wakes it's to the smell of coffee beans and the whir of the coffee maker. She keeps her eyes closed, listening, hearing the distant chatter of people on the street below her window. She can feel the sunlight streaming in through the window and filling the room with its light and warmth, but she keeps her eyes shut tight. She’s not ready to face the day just yet.

She only opens them when she hears the bedroom door open and the soft padding of footsteps towards her bed. She can smell the delicious scent of fresh coffee, much stronger now. Zuko is standing over her, a fresh mug of coffee in hand, smiling slightly at how adorable she looks in her disheveled sleepy state. Katara pushes her self into a more upright position and yawns.

“Morning sleepy head,” her husband murmurs, pressing a kiss into the top of her head and the mug into her hands. She makes noise which he understands to mean thank you, her brain still too sluggish to form proper words.

“I’m making pancakes,” he says as he makes his way back towards the door. Katara grimaces as she takes a sip of coffee.

“Are you sure?” she asks. “You’re a terrible cook. It took you months just to learn how to make coffee that is actually drinkable.”

“Okay, number one: the only hot drink my uncle taught me to make was tea so coffee was completely new to me. And number two: I’m practically the coffee master now, right?”

“True,”she concedes, taking another sip of her delicious caffeinated drink.

“I can definitely make pancakes,” Zuko assures her. And with that, he exits, leaving the bedroom door open in his wake.

“Just try not to set off the smoke alarm this time,” she calls after him.

“When have I ever-” he begins and then stops, defeated by his own disastrous cooking history. “Yeah, okay, I’ll open the windows before I start.”

Katara smiles to herself and takes another sip of coffee. She decides that she doesn’t mind days so much when they begin like this.


End file.
